[Elecraft] CQ Contest

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Stewart GW0ETF wrote:

I too operated SOSB20 as GW6W last weekend and concur with your observations
including being slightly uneasy at times at being able to slot in so close
to neighbouring signals - didn't suffer any 'band rage' though so presumably
they would be using something decent too.

---------------------------------

I'm not an avid contester, nor am I "anti-contesting".

I think it's also important to realize that while there still must be rules
of decent behavior, the rules are somewhat different when engaging in a
specific competition than they are at other times. 

It's unreasonable to expect everyone to exercise the same degree of care and
concern to avoid QRMing someone else in the heat of competition as one finds
at other times. In normal operation you'd QRL? and then QSY if someone
replied, even though they may be a kHz away using a receiver much wider than
yours. That's the rule, but it's not always practical in heavy competition. 

That's what makes trying to operate on a band where a popular contest is in
progress pretty useless for others not in the contest. (It brings to mind an
image of someone trying to have a quiet picnic lunch on the grass in the
middle of a football field during a game :-) 

I believe that's the reason the WARC bands come "alive" on contest weekends
as many of us scramble to find some quiet kilohertz. 

Ron AC7AC